


Shouldn't You Be Asleep?

by Eris_Lovelorne



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Cannon-Typical Drug Use, Drug Use, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mutual Pining, Precognition, References to Major Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 21:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20785199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eris_Lovelorne/pseuds/Eris_Lovelorne
Summary: Eddie Bloomberg awakes to the smell of cigarette smoke and travels to the roof of Titans' Tower to find Rose Wilson surrounded by adrenaline inhalers and sobbing.





	Shouldn't You Be Asleep?

Eddie Bloomberg, also know as Kid Devil, well… more recently, Red Devil awoke in the dead of night to the smell of smoke. It was faint, he must’ve left his window open. _Was the Tower burning?_ _No.._. 

Cigarette smoke. 

Rose Wilson. The Ravager.

She was the only one on the team who smoked. He pulled on a hoodie and shorts, peeling himself out of bed and heading to the roof. It must’ve been close to 3 am, but that didn’t matter if Rose was back from wherever she’d disappeared to for the last week.

She was there alright, sitting on the edge with her back turned, recognizable in the dark only by her long ghostly white hair. 

“It’s late. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” he said. 

No reply. 

“Rose?” he asked, tentative, scratching at the myriad of scars on his arms. It was a nervous habit he’s gained since shit went down at the Dark Side Club. Scared she might just be an apparition come to torment him. Maybe he was still asleep. Maybe he was still trapped in the dark cell dreaming it all.  _ Fuck. _

He shook his head, shaking the thoughts out of his mind. He padded, barefoot, over to the ledge and sat down next to her.  _ Oh,  _ he thought,  _ She’s high, isn’t she? _

Rose stared blankly off into the horizon, brow knitted together and eye unfocused. Her mask sat on the ground beside her and she still wore her uniform, there was blood spatter on the chain mail, probably not her own. Littered beside her mask were inhalers, a lot of them, and a bag.  _ Shit.  _ Her swords were still strapped to her back. 

A lit cigarette hung limply from one hand, slowly turning to ash, and an inhaler in the other. He took the cigarette from her hand gently, she didn’t react. Eddy extinguished it on the cold concrete and tossed it off the edge of the building. Watching it fall. 

He sat there for a bit, staring, thinking. Which, to be fair wasn’t particularly good for him since all he could think about was the Dark Side Club, but hey, at least he was trying to process it. Better to stay out here and keep an eye on Rose, who knew how long it would be before she came back.

After a while, he didn’t know how long, but the stars had moved position, he heard a quiet sniffle. He looked over to Rose. She was still gone, but she looked anguished, panicked, tears streaming down her face. She lifted a limp hand, about to reflexively take another hit of the inhaler, but it was empty.

“Come back, Rose, please,” he whispered, searching her face.

She scrunched up her face, still not looking at anything he could see, fumbling in the bag behind her for another inhaler, but they were all used up.

“No, no, no, no,” she muttered, “FUCK!”

“It’s okay,” he said, “Everything is okay,”

She went quiet again, shaking and crying silently. Rose never made noise when she cried. He wondered how many times she’d shed silent tears quickly absorbed into her mask. He reached out and took her hand, he squeezed it gently, she didn’t squeeze back. She was still gone. 

He waited while she came down from it, watching her and tracing circles into the back of her hand. He couldn’t recall ever having seen her so upset. 

She squeezed his hand, ever so slightly. 

“Rose?” he whispered. 

She squeezed again, firmer this time. She closed her eye, took a few shuddering breaths, then opened it again. She looked over.

“Eddie?” her voice was hoarse, well, it always was, but it was particularly raw. 

“I’m right here,” he gave a cheerful little smile.

“Is it… Am I back? Am I now again?” 

“I think so, well I guess I’d say that even if you weren’t. But I’m pretty sure it's now again,” he felt so awkward around her.

“Shit. Eddie...”

She launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and catching him off guard. He toppled back onto the concrete, with her on top of him. She clung to him and started sobbing. He didn’t really know what to do with his hands, so he wrapped them both around her waist, trying to hold her comfortingly. He could feel her heartbeat, the adrenaline she’d been taking made it sound like a hummingbird. 

She kept crying and repeating his name, shaking. He half worried her heart was going to beat its way out of her chest.

“Rose, what’s wrong? Am I going to do something bad? Am I going to hurt you?” he moved a hand up to her hair, doing his best to be comforting.

She sobbed harder.

“No, never,” she whispered, “Eddie you’d never,” the words were clawing their way from her throat, “Eddie… you’re...”

She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t get it out.

“What? What's going to happen? What’s wrong?” he didn’t want to raise his voice but she scared was scaring the living shit out of him.

She pulled back, sitting up and taking his face in her hands, searching his features for something he didn’t understand. Her eyes were wide and frantic, her hair was a mess. 

“Eddie you’re going to die.”

_ Shit. _

He took a deep breath.

And exhaled.

“Yeah,” he said.

“I couldn’t figure out why or how or when, I almost did I was so close, if I’d had just a bit more I could have done it I know it,” she babbled frantically, not listening to him.

“It doesn’t really matter,”

“They’re going to put a statue up, in the hall. Of you. Eddie you’re going to die. I’m not going to be there. Eddie, I don’t go to your funeral. They’re going to honor you. You sacrifice yourself. Everyone’s there. Except me. I’m not there. Eddie,” she broke down again, collapsing back on top of him. He sat up, scooting back from the ledge and pulling her into his lap.

“That’s good, I’m glad,” he said, combing his one of hands through her hair.

She looked at him. Really looked at him.

“Eddie.”

“Yes, Rose?”

“You’re going to fucking die.”

“I know.”

Her brow furrowed, she pressed her lips together. 

“Why don’t you care?”

“I’m living on borrowed time anyway,” he shrugged, carefully so as not to dislodge her.

“That’s not true, there’s… I’m sure we can fix it. We’ll find a way. You know the Titans are looking into it.”

“I made a choice the second I signed my soul away. You can’t cheat the devil and get away with it. Time up when I’m twenty, so what do a year or two really matter.”

She looked away, folding her hands in front of her.

“It matters to me,”

“I’m sorry for your loss,”

“Fuck you.”

“Hey, I’m the one dying here, this is harder for me than it is for you,” he tried to get a laugh out of her but she just glowered.  _ Shit, she’s… actually upset. Fuck. _

There were a few moments of silence, she moved her arms around his shoulders, leaning into his chest and tucking herself under his chin. Coming down from the adrenaline was making it a pain to sit up by herself.

“Why are you glad?”

“Huh, I didn’t realize you were listening.”

“Answer,” she mumbled into the fabric of his hoodie.

“I guess… well two things really, one of them’s kind of silly. If I get a statue, well I guess that means they truly accept me at some point and I get to be like a real titan. And… if I die for them, it means my life mattered for something. Like… at least I was worth something to someone. Helped someone out.”

“You don’t need to be a martyr…” she slumped further into his chest.

“But if I’m dead soon anyway I might as well be,”

She didn’t really have anything to say to that, so they sat together in silence for a few minutes.

“I love you, Eddie,” she mumbled into his neck.

“You’re high,”

“ ‘am not… I love you...”

She pulled his head down, trying to press their lips together.

“Rose, you’re high. Tell me again in the morning and I’ll believe you,”

“I don’t want to be alone tonight,” she tried to kiss him again. He wanted so badly to kiss her, to tell her he loved her and spend the rest of his life with this savage and untamed woman.

“You can crash in my room,” he said instead.

“Don’t leave me,” she tugged on the hem of his sweater trying to pull it off, he held both her hands in his, keeping them still.

“I won’t.”

“You will, everyone does, I need you to love me Eddie,” she said, more insistently, tears welling up in her eye.

“I won’t, at least not for tonight. Not until the world rips me from you, Rose,” he looked at her.

“I love you, Eddie, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you and I’m too much of a pussy to tell you when I’m sober,” she balled up her fists and beat on his chest as she repeated her mantra, he could tell she wasn’t trying to hurt him though, she just wasn’t the kind of person who could confess something like that sitting still.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, then you can decide if you want to say it back. When you’re fully back and you can tell then from now.”

“Okay,” she said, “Eddie, I’m tired,”

She slumped forward against him, closing her eyes.

“Yeah, me too.”

He got to his feet, setting her gently on the ground while he grabbed her mask and bag. Then he swept the used inhalers off the balcony. He’d ask her tomorrow to get help, let her tell Cassie or somebody on her own terms.

Eddie scooped her up gently, she curled into him, trusting him to carry her. He took her back to his room. Her hands were too heavy and unsteady to peel herself out of her bloodsoaked uniform, so he helped, lending her a shirt and boxers. He helped her to bed, intending to sleep on the floor but she held is hand. He tried to pull away but she pulled back, making it clear what she wanted. He laid down beside her.

She curled up with her head on his chest and her back to the wall, the aftermath of all the adrenaline she’d inhaled sending her quickly into sleep. He wrapped his arms around her as best he could, hoping that for once she’d be able to wake up feeling safe, and quickly joined her in sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want more of this please let me know, I'd be very happy to write more. This is both very niche and self-indulgent, so if there's anyone out there who still ships this, come say hi.   
You can find me over on tumblr at erislovelorne.tumblr.com or leave a comment here! Thank you for reading!


End file.
